Do you remember Hatsune Miku? A vocaloid that became famous thanks to the Ievan Polkka video? In this video, the character appears spinning a leek, but where did this meme come from? Did you know that this happened before Hatsune Miku? In this article, we will talk about Leekspin, the true origin of the leek that Miku is swinging.
Leekspin is also known as Loituma Girl, which consists of a small flash or gif animation of a female anime character spinning an onion. The question that remains is, is it a green onion or a leek? In Japanese, when searching for negi (onion) you can easily find this viral object from Miku, but leek is leek in English…
The Leekspin meme was created from a scene in the anime Bleach where the character Orihime appears spinning a leek. The leekspin is a simple animation without music, but it managed to make a huge impact on the English and Japanese internet around the 2000s.
How did the leek meme originate?
Both the animation and the song Ievan Polkka managed to make a big impact on the online community, especially in Russia. A year before Hatsune Miku appeared with her remix of Ievan Polkka, the animation called Leek Spin emerged on April 23, 2006. In the video below, we can see the first version of Miku’s song:
In May 2006, a website called leekspin appeared with this flash animation. It quickly gained popularity among anime fans and was shared on various blogs and sites like LiveJournal, GeoCities, and 4chan.
The video and several parodies were uploaded around July. The video quickly began to be viewed by over 10 million people. Soon fans discovered that the song is of Finnish origin, the cultural song ended up attracting attention from all over the world and received millions of views.
The beginning of Miku’s success and Ievan Polkka
It was on the Japanese youtube, Nico Nico Douga that the viral spread even more with the help of the famous Hatsune Miku. In September 2007, a user named Otomania published a remix of Hatsune Miku swinging a leek while singing the song Ievan Polkka. It was because of this first song that Hatsune Miku became a web sensation.
What do you think of Hatsune Miku’s success and Ievan Polka? Did you know about the Leekspin viral? Do you think it is a green onion or a leek? We hope to hear your opinion, we appreciate comments and shares.
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